SPACE/COSMOS
The Mars mission that could prep for a human landing
video:
A simulation of the M-MATISSE spacecraft, Henri and Marguerite, exploring the plasma environment around Mars.
view moreCredit: M-MATISSE team
Royal Astronomical Society press release
9 July 2025
If we're to land humans on Mars in the coming decades, we'll have to know what challenges await them when they get there.
Enter M-MATISSE, a potential precursor to a crewed mission to the Red Planet which could use UK instrumentation being promoted at the Royal Astronomical Society's National Astronomy Meeting 2025 in Durham to revolutionise our understanding of space weather on Mars.
It would involve sending two robot orbiters to the fourth planet from the Sun to unravel the complex workings of the Martian magnetosphere (the region around a planet dominated by its magnetic field), ionosphere (a layer of ionized gas in the upper atmosphere) and thermosphere (where Mars loses its atmospheric gases to space), as well as the planet's lower atmosphere and radiation build-up.
This, researchers say, could help forecast potentially hazardous situations for spacecraft and astronauts, making it an essential precursor to any future robotic and human exploration.
It will also shed further light on the planet's habitability.
If the project gets the green light from the European Space Agency (ESA) next year, M-MATISSE would be the first mission solely dedicated to understanding planetary space weather at Mars.
Dr Beatriz Sánchez-Cano, of the University of Leicester, said: "M-MATISSE will provide the first global characterisation of the dynamics of the Martian system at all altitudes, to understand how the atmosphere dissipates the incoming energy from the solar wind, including radiation, as well as how different surface processes are affected by space weather activity.
"This is important because understanding the behaviour of the Martian system and the chain of processes that control space weather and space climate at Mars is essential for exploration.
"It leads to accurate space weather forecasts (i.e. accurate understanding of solar energy and particles at Mars) and, thus, prevents hazardous situations for spacecraft and humans on the Red Planet, as we well know from Earth space weather monitoring experience."
M-MATISSE, the 'Mars Magnetosphere ATmosphere Ionosphere and Space-weather SciencE', is one of the current three candidates in competition for ESA's next 'medium' mission. It is expected that one candidate mission will be chosen by mid-2026.
Solar Orbiter and Euclid are other examples of flying medium-class ESA missions, while Plato and Ariel are currently being built for launch in the next six years.
If selected, M-MATISSE would study Mars using two identical spacecraft, each carrying an identical set of instruments to observe the Red Planet simultaneously from two different locations in space.
One of the spacecraft, named Henri, would spend most of its time within the Martian plasma system, while the other called Marguerite is intended to mainly be in the solar wind and/or far tail of Mars, a largely unexplored region.
The mission could reveal how the solar wind influences Mars's atmosphere, ionosphere and magnetosphere. It also aims to investigate the impact of these interactions on Mars's lower atmosphere and surface, which is a key aspect to understand the Red Planet's habitability, as well as the evolution of its atmosphere and climate.
Dr Sánchez-Cano, winner of the RAS Fowler Award in 2022, added: "The UK is spearheading this large international effort during the mission selection phase.
"In particular, it is responsible for the particle instrument suite which will provide the most accurate to date observations of all particles at Mars, including neutrals, ions and electrons of different energies.
"It is also responsible for the mission Science Centre, where in coordination with the European Space Agency, the science of the mission will be planned and its data exploitation coordinated."
To find out more about the mission concept, visit: https://le.ac.uk/physics/research/space-projects-instrumentation/projects/m-matisse
ENDS
Images & video
Caption: A simulation of the M-MATISSE spacecraft, Henri and Marguerite, exploring the plasma environment around Mars.
Credit: M-MATISSE team
Caption: The differing orbit configurations of the M-MATISSE spacecraft are revealed in this video, along with a flyby to Phobos and the field of view of their instruments.
Credit: European Space Agency
Caption: A model of the M-MATISSE spacecraft.
Credit: Dr Beatriz Sánchez-Cano/European Space Agency
Further information
The talk 'The M-MATISSE mission: Mars Magnetosphere ATmosphere Ionosphere and Space weather SciencE. An ESA Medium class (M7) candidate in Phase-A.' will take place at NAM at 14:55 BST on Wednesday 9 July 2025 in room TLC101. Find out more at: https://conference.astro.dur.ac.uk/event/7/contributions/458/
If you would like a Zoom link and password to watch it online, please email press@ras.ac.uk
The UK would provide one of the payloads of the proposed M-MATISSE mission. It is responsible for the leadership of the Mars Ensemble of Particle Instruments (M-EPI), a set of particle instruments combined in a single unit with a common Data Processing Unit unique interface with the spacecraft.
One of these instruments is the Mars - Electron Analyser System (M-EAS), for in-situ detection of electrons on both M-MATISSE spacecraft. M-EPI measurement principle is to characterise the Martian particle environment at different energies, including atmospheric neutral particles, ionospheric ions, electrons and negative ions, magnetospheric ions and electrons, solar wind ions and electrons, and solar energetic particles.
Life on Venus? UK probe could reveal the answer
image:
An artist’s impression of the proposed VERVE mission to Venus the answer whether tiny bacterial lifeforms really do exist in the planet’s clouds.
view moreCredit: Danielle Futselaar
Royal Astronomical Society press release
9 July 2025
The answer to whether tiny bacterial lifeforms really do exist in the clouds of Venus could be revealed once-and-for-all by a UK-backed mission.
Over the past five years researchers have detected the presence of two potential biomarkers – the gases phosphine and ammonia – which on Earth can only be produced by biological activity and industrial processes.
Their existence in the Venusian clouds cannot easily be explained by known atmospheric or geological phenomena, so Cardiff University's Professor Jane Greaves and her team are plotting a way to get to the bottom of it.
Revealing a new mission concept at the Royal Astronomical Society's National Astronomy Meeting 2025 in Durham, they plan to search and map phosphine, ammonia, and other gases rich in hydrogen that shouldn't be on Venus.
This would involve building a CubeSat-sized probe with a budget of 50 million euros (£43 million) to hitch a ride with the European Space Agency's EnVision mission – scheduled for 2031. VERVE (the Venus Explorer for Reduced Vapours in the Environment) would then detach on arrival at Venus and carry out an independent survey, while EnVision probes the planet’s atmosphere, surface and interior.
"Our latest data has found more evidence of ammonia on Venus, with the potential for it to exist in the habitable parts of the planet's clouds," Professor Greaves said.
"There are no known chemical processes for the production of either ammonia or phosphine, so the only way to know for sure what is responsible for them is to go there.
"The hope is that we can establish whether the gases are abundant or in trace amounts, and whether their source is on the planetary surface, for example in the form of volcanic ejecta.
"Or whether there is something in the atmosphere, potentially microbes that are producing ammonia to neutralise the acid in the Venusian clouds."
Phosphine was first detected in the Venusian clouds in 2020 but the finding proved controversial because subsequent observations failed to replicate the discovery.
However, that didn't deter the team of researchers behind the JCMT-Venus project – a long term programme to study the molecular content of the atmosphere of Venus which first involved the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope in Hawaii.
They tracked the phosphine signature over time and found that its detection appeared to follow the planet's day-night cycle – i.e. it was destroyed by sunlight.
They also established that the abundance of the gas varied with time and position across Venus.
"This may explain some of the apparently contradictory studies and is not a surprise given that many other chemical species, like sulphur dioxide and water, have varying abundances, and may eventually give us clues to how phosphine is produced," said Dr Dave Clements, of Imperial College London, who is the leader of the JCMT-Venus project.
It was then revealed at last year’s National Astronomy Meeting in Hull that ammonia had also been tentatively detected on Venus. On Earth, this is primarily produced by biological activity and industrial processes.
But there are no known chemical processes or any atmospheric or geological phenomena which can explain its presence on Venus.
Although temperatures on the surface of the planet are around 450C, about 50km (31 miles) up it can range from 30C to 70C, with an atmospheric pressure similar to Earth's surface.
Under these conditions it would be just about possible for "extremophile" microbes to survive, potentially having remained in the Venusian clouds after emerging during the planet's more temperate past.
But the only way to know for sure, the JCMT-Venus researchers say, is to send a probe to find out.
New research papers about the latest discoveries are expected to be published later this year.
ENDS
The mission would involve building a CubeSat-sized probe with a budget of 50 million euros to hitch a ride with the European Space Agency’s EnVision mission. VERVE would then detach on arrival at Venus and carry out an independent survey.
Credit
Professor Jane Greaves
Images & captions
Caption: An artist's impression of the proposed VERVE mission to Venus the answer whether tiny bacterial lifeforms really do exist in the planet's clouds.
Credit: Danielle Futselaar
Caption: The mission would involve building a CubeSat-sized probe with a budget of 50 million euros to hitch a ride with the European Space Agency's EnVision mission. VERVE would then detach on arrival at Venus and carry out an independent survey.
Credit: Professor Jane Greaves
Further information
The talk 'VERVE - a proposal for an ESA mini-Fast mission to Venus' will take place at NAM at 17:25 BST on Wednesday 9 July 2025 in room TLC101. Find out more at: https://conference.astro.dur.ac.uk/event/7/contributions/462/
If you would like a Zoom link and password to watch it online, please email press@ras.ac.uk
JCMT-Venus is a long term programme to study the molecular content of the atmosphere of Venus. The team first used the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) in Hawaii to detect the phosphine on Venus.
Information on the detection can be found here: https://ras.ac.uk/news-and-press/news/hints-life-venus
Notes for editors
The NAM 2025 conference is principally sponsored by the Royal Astronomical Society and Durham University.
About the Royal Astronomical Society
The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS), founded in 1820, encourages and promotes the study of astronomy, solar-system science, geophysics and closely related branches of science.
The RAS organises scientific meetings, publishes international research and review journals, recognises outstanding achievements by the award of medals and prizes, maintains an extensive library, supports education through grants and outreach activities and represents UK astronomy nationally and internationally. Its more than 4,000 members (Fellows), a third based overseas, include scientific researchers in universities, observatories and laboratories as well as historians of astronomy and others.
The RAS accepts papers for its journals based on the principle of peer review, in which fellow experts on the editorial boards accept the paper as worth considering. The Society issues press releases based on a similar principle, but the organisations and scientists concerned have overall responsibility for their content.
Keep up with the RAS on Instagram, Bluesky, LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube.
Download the RAS Supermassive podcast
About the Royal Astronomical Society
The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS), founded in 1820, encourages and promotes the study of astronomy, solar-system science, geophysics and closely related branches of science.
The RAS organises scientific meetings, publishes international research and review journals, recognises outstanding achievements by the award of medals and prizes, maintains an extensive library, supports education through grants and outreach activities and represents UK astronomy nationally and internationally. Its more than 4,000 members (Fellows), a third based overseas, include scientific researchers in universities, observatories and laboratories as well as historians of astronomy and others.
The RAS accepts papers for its journals based on the principle of peer review, in which fellow experts on the editorial boards accept the paper as worth considering. The Society issues press releases based on a similar principle, but the organisations and scientists concerned have overall responsibility for their content.
Keep up with the RAS on Instagram, Bluesky, LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube.
Download the RAS Supermassive podcast
About the Science and Technology Facilities Council
The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), is the UK’s largest public funder of research into astronomy and astrophysics, particle and nuclear physics, and space science. We operate five national laboratories across the UK which, supported by a network of additional research facilities, increase our understanding of the world around us and develop innovative technologies in response to pressing scientific and societal issues. We also facilitate UK involvement in a number of international research activities including the ELT, CERN, the James Webb Space Telescope and the Square Kilometre Array Observatory.
About Durham University
Durham University is a globally outstanding centre of teaching and research based in historic Durham City in the UK.
We are a collegiate university committed to inspiring our people to do outstanding things at Durham and in the world.
We conduct research that improves lives globally and we are ranked as a world top 100 university with an international reputation in research and education (QS World University Rankings 2026).
We are a member of the Russell Group of leading research-intensive UK universities and we are consistently ranked as a top five university in national league tables (Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide and The Complete University Guide).
For more information about Durham University visit: www.durham.ac.uk/about/
A model of the M-MATISSE spacecraft.
Credit
Dr Beatriz Sánchez-Cano/European Space Agency
Chang'e-6 samples unlock secrets of the Moon’s farside
The Moon's near and far sides exhibit striking asymmetry—from topography and crustal thickness to volcanic activity—yet the origins of these differences long puzzled scientists. China's Chang'e-6 mission, launched on May 3, 2024, changed this by returning 1,935.3 grams of material from the lunar farside's South Pole–Aitken Basin (SPA), the Moon's largest, deepest, and oldest known impact structure, measuring 2,500 kilometers in diameter. The samples arrived on Earth on June 25, 2024.
Previous studies indicated that the SPA was formed by a colossal impact approximately 4.25 billion years ago, releasing energy greater than that of a trillion atomic bombs. But the effect of this impact on lunar geology and thermal evolution was one of planetary science's greatest unsolved questions until recently.
In the past year, research teams led by CAS institutions including the Institute of Geology and Geophysics (IGG) and the National Astronomical Observatories (NAOC), along with Nanjing University and others, have made four landmark discoveries based on the SPA samples. Their findings were published in four cover articles in the journal Nature.
According to Prof. WU Fuyuan, a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a researcher at IGG, the profound geological consequences of the impact that formed the SPA are, for the first time, revealed collectively in these four Nature papers.
The cover stories focus on the following areas:
Prolonged Volcanic Activity: Analysis identified two distinct volcanic phases on the lunar farside—4.2 billion and 2.8 billion years ago—indicating that volcanic activity persisted for at least 1.4 billion years, far longer than previously thought.
Fluctuating Magnetic Field: Measurements of paleomagnetic intensities in basalt clasts revealed a rebound in the Moon's magnetic field 2.8 billion years ago, suggesting that the lunar dynamo, which generates magnetic fields, fluctuated episodically rather than fading steadily.
Asymmetric Water Distribution: The farside mantle was found to have significantly lower water content than the nearside mantle, indicating that volatile elements are unevenly distributed within the lunar interior—adding another aspect to the Moon's asymmetry.
Mantle Depletion Signatures: Geochemical analysis of basalt points to an "ultra-depleted" mantle source, likely resulting from either a primordial depleted mantle or massive melt extraction triggered by large impacts. This highlights the role of major impacts in shaping the Moon's deep interior.
The first analysis of the samples was published by NAOC and its collaborators, detailing the samples' physical, mineralogical, and geochemical properties. The Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry at CAS subsequently confirmed 2.8-billion-year-old farside volcanic activity, linking it to a highly depleted mantle. IGG, in turn, dated the SPA to 4.25 billion years ago, providing a critical reference point for studying early Solar System impacts.
These findings not only illuminate the evolution of the Moon's farside but also underscore the transformative impact of the Chang'e-6 mission, paving the way for deeper insights into planetary formation and evolution.
Journal
Nature
DOI
Moon-Rice: Developing the perfect crop for space-bases
Society for Experimental Biology
image:
Collection of CRISPR-Cas mutagenised rice plants.
view moreCredit: Courtesy of the University of Milan.
The future of sustained space habitation depends on our ability to grow fresh food away from Earth. The revolutionary new collaborative Moon-Rice project is using cutting-edge experimental biology to create an ideal future food crop that can be grown in future deep-space outposts, as well as in extreme environments back on Earth.
Modern space exploration relies heavily on resupplies of food from Earth, but this tends to be largely pre-prepared meals that rarely contain fresh ingredients. To counteract the negative effects that the space environment can have on human health, it’s important to have a reliable source of food rich in vitamins, antioxidants, and fibres.
The Moon-Rice project aims to develop the perfect crop for sustaining life in space for long-duration missions, such as the occupation of permanent bases on the Moon or on Mars. “Living in space is all about recycling resources and living sustainably,” says Marta Del Bianco, a plant biologist at the Italian Space Agency. “We are trying to solve the same problems that we face here on Earth.”
Dr Del Bianco explains that one of the major challenges is the current size of crops grown on Earth. Even many dwarf varieties of rice are still too big to be grown reliably in space. “What we need is a super-dwarf, but this comes with its own challenges,” she says. “Dwarf varieties often come from the manipulation of a plant hormone called gibberellin, which can reduce the height of the plant, but this also creates problems for seed germination. They're not an ideal crop, because in space, you just don't have to be small, you must also be productive.”
The Moon-Rice project is not just a solo effort by the Italian Space Agency and also involves the collaboration of three Italian Universities. “The University of Milan has a very strong background in rice genetics, the University of Rome ‘Sapienza’ specialises in the manipulation of crop physiology and the University of Naples ‘Federico II’ has an amazing heritage in space crop production,” says Dr Del Bianco. “We started this four-year project nine months ago, so it’s very much a work in progress, but the preliminary results we have now are really promising,” says Dr Del Bianco.
“Researchers at the University of Milan are isolating mutant rice varieties that can grow to just 10 cm high, so they’re really tiny and this is a great starting point,” says Dr Del Bianco. “At the same time, Rome has identified genes that can alter the plant architecture to maximize production and growth efficiency.” Additionally, since meat production will be too inefficient for resource and space-limited space habitats, Dr Del Bianco and her team are looking into enriching the protein content of the rice by increasing the ratio of protein-rich embryo to starch.
Dr Del Bianco’s own personal focus is on how the rice plants will cope with micro-gravity. “We simulate micro-gravity on Earth by continually rotating the plant so that the plant is pulled equally in all directions by gravity. Each side of the plant gets activated continuously and it doesn't know where the up and down is,” says Dr Del Bianco. “It's the best we can do on Earth because, unfortunately, doing experiments in real microgravity conditions, i.e. in space, is complex and expensive.”
Not only can fresh food be more nutritious than pre-cooked and packaged space meals, but it has significant psychological benefits too. “Watching and guiding plants to grow is good for humans, and while pre-cooked or mushy food can be fine for a short period of time, it could become a concern for longer-duration missions,” says Dr Del Bianco.
Space exploration is a very demanding job, which requires astronauts to be in peak physical and psychological condition. “If we can make an environment that physically and mentally nourishes the astronauts, it will reduce stress and lower the chances of people making mistakes. In space, the best case of a mistake is wasted money, and the worst case is the loss of lives,” says Dr Del Bianco.
The Moon-Rice project is not only beneficial for space explorers but will have useful applications for growing plants in controlled environments on Earth too. “If you can develop a robust crop for space, then it could be used at the Arctic and Antarctic poles, or in deserts, or places with only a small amount of indoor space available,” says Dr Del Bianco.
This research is being presented at the Society for Experimental Biology Annual Conference in Antwerp, Belgium on the 9th July 2025.
Scientific breakthrough uses cold atoms to unlock cosmic mysteries
Scientists have used ultracold atoms to successfully demonstrate a groundbreaking method of particle acceleration that could unlock new understanding of how cosmic rays behave, a new study reveals.
After more than 70 years from its formulation, researchers have observed the Fermi acceleration mechanism in a laboratory by colliding ultracold atoms against engineered movable potential barriers – delivering a significant milestone in high-energy astrophysics and beyond.
Fermi acceleration is the mechanism responsible for the generation of cosmic rays, as postulated by physicist Enrico Fermi in 1949. The process itself features also some universal properties, that have spawned a wide range of mathematical models, such as the Fermi-Ulam model. Until now, however, it has been difficult to create a reliable Fermi accelerator on Earth.
Publishing their findings today in Physical Review Letters, the international research team from the Universities of Birmingham and Chicago reveal their success in building a fully controllable Fermi accelerator and using this to observe significant particle acceleration.
The accelerator - just 100 micrometres in size - can quickly accelerate ultracold samples to velocities of more than half a meter per second. It does this making movable optical potential barriers collide with trapped ultracold atoms.
By combining energy gain and particle losses, the scientists can also obtain energy spectra analogous to those observed in cosmic rays - providing the first direct verification of the so-called Bell’s result, which is at the core of every cosmic ray acceleration model.
Co-author Dr Amita Deb, from the University of Birmingham, commented: “Results delivered by our Fermi accelerator surpass the best-in-class acceleration methods used in quantum technology. The technology has the additional advantages of featuring an exceptionally simple and miniaturised setup, and no theoretical upper limits.”
The accelerator’s generation of ultracold atomic jets demonstrates the potential for high-precision control over particle acceleration. The ability to study Fermi acceleration with cold atoms opens new possibilities for investigating phenomena relevant to high-energy astrophysics.
Future areas of research include the study of particle acceleration at shocks, magnetic reconnection, and turbulence which are critical processes in the universe. Studying quantum Fermi acceleration could lead to the development of new tools for manipulating quantum wavepackets, offering promising avenues for advancements in quantum information science.
Dr Vera Guarrera, one of the leading authors from the University of Birmingham, commented: “Our work represents the first step towards the study of more complex astrophysical mechanisms in the lab. The simplicity and effectiveness of our Fermi accelerator make it a powerful tool for both fundamental research and practical applications in quantum technology.”
The research team plans to further explore the applications of their Fermi accelerator in various fields, including quantum chemistry and atomtronics. They aim to investigate how different kinds of interactions affect the acceleration rate and the maximum energy attainable, providing valuable insights for both theoretical and experimental physics.
ENDS
For more information, interviews or an embargoed copy of the research paper, please contact the Press Office at University of Birmingham on pressoffice@contacts.bham.ac.uk or +44 (0) 121 414 2772.
Notes to editor:
The University of Birmingham is ranked amongst the world’s top 100 institutions. Its work brings people from across the world to Birmingham, including researchers, teachers and more than 8,000 international students from over 150 countries.
‘Observation of Fermi acceleration with cold atoms’ - G. Barontini, V. Naniyil, J. P. Stinton, D. G. Reid, J. M. F. Gunn, H. M. Price, A. B. Deb, D. Caprioli, and V. Guarrera is published in Physical Review Letters
Journal
Physical Review Letters
Method of Research
Observational study
Subject of Research
Not applicable
Article Title
Observation of Fermi acceleration with cold atoms
Article Publication Date
9-Jul-2025
Mysterious ‘Dark Dwarfs’ may be hiding at the heart of the Milky Way
A new kind of cosmic object could help solve one of the universe’s greatest mysteries: dark matter.
Particle Astrophysicists have proposed the existence of a strange new type of star-like object, called a ‘dark dwarf’, which may be quietly glowing in the centre of our galaxy.
Far from being dark in appearance, these unusual objects are powered by dark matter (the invisible substance thought to make up about a quarter of the universe).
The discovery comes from a UK-US research team and the full research findings has been published in the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics (JCAP).
Using theoretical models, the scientists suggest that dark matter can get trapped inside young stars, producing enough energy to stop them from cooling and turning them into stable, long-lasting objects they call dark dwarfs.
Dark dwarfs are thought to form from brown dwarfs, which are often described as failed stars.
Brown dwarfs are too small to sustain the nuclear fusion that powers most stars, so they cool and fade over time. But if they sit in a dense pocket of dark matter, like near the Milky Way’s centre, they could capture dark matter particles.
If those particles then collide and destroy each other, they release energy keeping the dark dwarf glowing indefinitely.
The existence of these objects depends on dark matter being made of specific kinds of particles, known as WIMPs (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles).
These are heavy particles that barely interact with ordinary matter, but could annihilate with one another inside stars, providing the energy needed to keep a dark dwarf alive.
To tell dark dwarfs apart from other faint objects like brown dwarfs, the scientists point to a unique clue: lithium.
The researchers believe dark dwarfs would still contain a rare form of lithium called lithium-7.
In normal stars, lithium-7 gets burned up quickly. So, if they find an object that looks like a brown dwarf but still has lithium-7 that’s a strong hint it’s something different.
Study co-author Dr Djuna Croon of Durham University, said: “The discovery of dark dwarfs in the galactic centre would give us a unique insight into the particle nature of dark matter.”
The team believes that telescopes like the James Webb Space Telescope could already be capable of spotting dark dwarfs, especially when focusing on the centre of the galaxy.
Another approach might be to look at many similar objects and statistically determine whether some of them could be dark dwarfs.
Finding just one of these dark dwarfs, the researchers say, would be a major step towards uncovering the true nature of dark matter.
ENDS
Source
‘Dark Dwarfs: Dark Matter-Powered Sub-Stellar Objects Awaiting Discovery at the Galactic Center’, (2025), D. Croon, J. Sakstein, J. Smirnov and J. Sreeter, Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics (JCAP).
An embargoed copy of the paper is available from Durham University Communications Office. Please email communications.team@durham.ac.uk.
Graphics
Associated images are available via the following link: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/q0wuo2s1zxt6seh7uyn2d/AIJ62MtF_L_hiIGT6o6XNPs?rlkey=eb1moqs5fzp37oz8zqaabmxbr&st=87kzrhj7&dl=0
About Durham University
Durham University is a globally outstanding centre of teaching and research based in historic Durham City in the UK.
We are a collegiate university committed to inspiring our people to do outstanding things at Durham and in the world.
We conduct research that improves lives globally and we are ranked as a world top 100 university with an international reputation in research and education (QS World University Rankings 2026).
We are a member of the Russell Group of leading research-intensive UK universities and we are consistently ranked as a top 10 university in national league tables (Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide, Guardian University Guide and The Complete University Guide).
For more information about Durham University visit: www.durham.ac.uk/about/
END OF MEDIA RELEASE – issued by Durham University Communications Office.
